The Eastern Province is endowed with a wide variety of attractions for both foreign and domestic tourists and they can be classified into three broad categories, namely natural attractions, socio-cultural attractions and man-made attractions. The most striking attraction of the province, of course, is its long stretches of wide sandy beaches with bluish warm waters. In general, the beaches in the Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts have good swimming conditions with added attractions of the opportunities they offer for whale watching (blue and sperm whale) and for diving while the beaches in the Ampara district have high rising waves which are deal for surfing and sailing.

Further, the water bodies in the province in the form of rivers and reservoirs cover 635 sq.km.of the land area (6.4 percent) and the forest cover takes up 3,030 sq.km (30.3 percent) of the total land area. In addition, there are several wild life sanctuaries, aviaries and nature reserves in and bordering the province. All these natural attractions provide ample opportunities for development of nature and eco based tourism.

The eastern province also the home for three main ethnic communities in the country Muslims, Tamils and Sinhalese, practicing four major religions islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. Consequently, it has a large number of places of religious worship in the form of Mosques, Kovils, Temples and Churches. Some of these religious places have long history and traditions with regular religious rituals and festivals which can be interesting to both foreign and domestic tourists. The two Dutch forts in Trincomalee and Batticaloa are the principal man-made attractions in the province.